AAR, a provider of aviation products and services, engaged in two separate bribery schemes. State-owned entities and government agencies permeate the aviation industry. As a result, FCPA risks are embedded in direct industry activity and related services and suppliers. The AAR case is a perfect example of just how easy it is to engage in bribery in the aviation industry. AAR engaged in two separate...
The Justice Department and the SEC finished 2024 with a coordinated resolution of criminal and civil FCPA charges against AAR Corporation, an Illinois-based provider of aviation products and services. In addition, DOJ unsealed a criminal indictment and guilty plea dated August 1, 2024, by Deepak Sharma, CEO of an AAR Subsidiary for his role in the FCPA scheme. Also, the SEC entered into a separate civil...
By: Daniela Melendez, Associate at The Volkov Law Group, and Alex Cotoia, Regulatory Compliance Manager. Daniela can be reached at [email protected] and Alex can be reached out at [email protected]. In a significant development underscoring the U.S. government’s continued efforts to counter Russia’s destabilizing activities, the U.S. Department of the Treasury recently announced the designation of Gazprombank as a Specially Designated National (“SDN”) under Executive Order 14024. This action,...
What went wrong when McKinsey paid bribes to secure consulting contracts with South Africa’s state-owned enterprises? In this episode, Michael Volkov dives into the December 2024 DOJ settlement with McKinsey & Company, which paid $122 million after being found guilty of paying bribes to officials at Transnet and Eskom to secure valuable consulting contracts. The case involved significant violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act...
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In a far-reaching criminal case, in November 2024, the Justice Department unsealed a complex, five-count indictment in the Eastern District of New York charging eight defendants, including Gautam S. Adani, Sagar R. Adani and Vneet S. Jaain, executives of the Adani Group, a large Indian renewable-energy company, with conspiracies to commit securities and wire fraud and substantive securities fraud for their roles in a multi-billion-dollar...
Deja Vu all over again — Yogi Berra Yogi Berra said it best — we have seen this scenario before, with similar parties — corrupt foreign officials from Eskom (and Transnet), local partner requirements resulting in engagement of unqualified businesses, and corrupt third parties who assist the bribery scheme in exchange for a cut of the action. This is a familiar set of facts, and...
The McKinsey FCPA case follows several other significant cases involving South Africa. ABB and SAP resolved FCPA cases involving bribes in South Africa; on the SEC front, Gartner resolved a bribery case involving South Africa. Like these other cases, McKinsey’s bribery scheme focused on two important state-owned enterprises: Transnet Ltd, the South African company responsible for operation of ports, rails and pipelines; and Eskom Ltd.,...
On December 5, 2024, DOJ announced a settlement with McKinsey and Company for $122 million for bribes paid to South African government officials to secure valuable consulting contracts. Between 2012 to 2016, McKinsey Africa, acting through former senior partner Vikas Sagar, who plead guilty in 2022, conspired to pay bribes to high-ranking officials at two South African state-owned enterprises: Transnet SOC Ltd., which was the...
The Department of Justice Antitrust Division’s is playing catch up to the Criminal Division on compliance leadership. DOJ’s Criminal Division has issued four separate revisions to its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs. This is the Antitrust Division’s first revision to its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs. The Antitrust Division’s revisions mirror many of the Criminal Division’s recent revisions with a particular focus on emerging technologies,...
